Blue-Light Blair

Aaron's Rantblog is running a contest to predict when Jayson Blair's book hits the clearance section. Click here to put in your vote!!

Expandable Thoughts

The following are deserving of philosophical exposition, but they are not going to get it, from me, today. However, feel free to expand upon here or elsewhere, as you see fit:

Grandma Eckert (dec.) on Crime and the Economy: The economy was much, much worse during the depression than it is now (early '70's), but we didn't have nearly the crime. I think the difference was attitude. In 1930, there was such a thing as being poor but honest, and it was something to be proud of. If you had a job, you were lucky and you knew it, and so did everyone else. Unemployed people weren't treated with such disdain. We all knew they wanted to work.

Grandma Eckert on marriage, religion and alcohol: When I was a girl, I used to go to church every Sunday. Then I got married. Now I go to bars.

It appears to me that creationists are more inclined to let evolution work. Evolutionists are more reluctant to accept the consequences of evolution.

The real Clinton legacy is the new reluctance of the right/conservative element to police its own. Two and one/half years after Clinton, that reluctance is just now beginning to fade. In the pre-Clinton era, a Republican President who signed into law something that he knew was unconstitutional would have had the right/left and inbetween raising Cain. In the post-Clinton era, there were a few feeble "Hey, you shouldn't do that"s, but no hot rage. I am referring specifically to the McCain-Feingold bill, but there are other examples.

The faith-based initiative is stupid. It is only going to create more government interference with religion, and more religions abandoning their god for government money.

Same can be said for school vouchers. FYI, the school voucher program is running in FL, and only two private schools have taken advantage of it. The government restrictions tied to the money are too stupid to be adapted by a private school with a waiting list.

Pro-Israel Punk?>

Well, my goodness. A group (or person?) called Atom and his Package have released an album called "Attention: Blah Blah Blah,: with lyrics including "You're so leftist, you're so for peace/You hate the death penalty, but love it in the Middle East." Article here. This young person is touring Europe even as we speak . . give 'em Hell, Atom!!

o, why not! Makes as much sense as anything else

You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You
display a perfect fusion of heroism and
compassion.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
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Update: I am also upside down. Figures.

After I get all the chapters done, I'm probably going to delete and re-post, in order. That means today's links won't work in a few weeks. FYI

WE THOUGHT WE HEARD THE ANGELS SING

PRODUCING BOOKS IN WARTIME

This book has been produced in conformity with wartime economy standards.

The amount of reading matter has in no way been curtailed-when necessary more words per page are used.

Thinner books and smaller books will save paper, cloth, metals, transportation and storage space and will conserve manpower.

The publishers will do their utmost in meeting the objectives of the War Production Board towards the successful prosection of the war.

High Class Celebrities (cough cough)

Ms. Natalie Maines of the Ditsy Twits has been seen sporting a T-shirt that reads "FUTK," rumored to stand for "F-- you, Toby Keith."

A wag on Hollywood halfwits suggested in his post that perhaps it stands for "F-- you, Ted Kennedy," and that Ms. Maines is upset that he cancelled their swim date.

tee hee hee

Do zip over to Lt. Smash and read about the Bin Laden Bake Sale.

Bluegrass Mickey

I am not a dog person, but I did briefly adopt a dog. It didn't work out well, and yet the problems all should have been surmountable.

The dog is a brittany spaniel, and he looks just like what a dog ought to look like, with floppy ears and a waggy tail. It's a high-energy dog and needs exercise, but I'm a low-energy human. Well, I tried walking him two miles a day. The walking part is all right, except for other people's dogs . . ! Lots of stray dogs in this neighborhood, and Bluegrass wanted to see them all. Scared the s*** out of me. I am not brave, nor knowing of what to do around a bunch of dogs.

There is also the cat issue. I have two old, fat cats. Actually, I did get them to tolerate each other, with constant supervision and training. It was hard on the cats, and they stopped going out in the backyard or into certain rooms - and there aren't that many rooms in this little house! I have a very small house, built without modern standards. The hallway is tiny, and none of the animals would go through the hall if another was in it. Since the best breeze is in the hallway, it's a favorite sleeping spot. So I would call the dog, he'd get as far as the hallway and stop. Or a cat would be trying to get to the litter box and halt. A dog and a cat would be in a mexican stand-off, and I had to escort the animal through.

Plus he bit a kid, but that was the kid's fault and mine for not seeing the obvious coming. Frankly, I would have bit that kid too.

Argh! I miss that dog, and I hate to think of him back at the resucer's. She's a great lady and he has a decent home there, but she doesn't really want him. I like the little feller, but I don't think I'm a very good dog owner. But I will tell you, I cried much more when I took that dog back than I ever cried over a man.

I don't know if I should go get him back or not. I wish I was smarter and braver and better than I am. I felt so bad for the cats, when Bluegrass was here. I was frightened during the walks. & my backyard really needs revamping so he can't get into trouble (escape or get his head stuck in the air conditioner again).

But I miss his smiling face and happy tail.

aaiiiii!!

Kayak

I went kayaking yesterday at Weedon Island. My first time there . . it's quite beautiful and I will have to go again, but this time at high tide. I didn't take the canoe trail, as the water level was too low. It was also the first time I drove that far and that fast with the kayak. I have a baby pickup (Chevy S10, named Elvis, if you want to know). I put down the gate, and run 2 tie downs through the scupper hole and 2 through the stern handle. Over half the kayak hangs over the back, but it does seem to hold and nobody tailgates me!

There is a grave near the entrance:

Loenzo Dow Ross

Co.B 7th FLA Inf.

CSA

1888

So I stopped there for a bit and paid my respects. I have a Lorenzo Dow in my own ancestry. You can read about the original here and here. You can read one of hsi books here.

As is typical of 19th century writing, it's quite flowery and difficult to wade through, by our standards.

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Nobility of Womanhood, my arse

Every now and then, some witty woman writes a cute little article about how women have babies and go through the menstrual cycle because we are so brave and tough and cool and groovy and just a sterling example of nobility and yada yada blah blah.

I am here to tell you, that's crap. We do it because we have no choice. All 7 dwarves have put on red-hot golf shoes and are now doing the fandago in my ovaries. I am in pain from the belly to the knees. I'm weak, wobbly, nauseated, and flowing like Niagra during monsoon season. & don't give me a bunch of guff about Canada not having monsoons or I will kill you.

I do not feel even a tiny bit noble. If I could, I would transfer this condition to nearest male and laugh while I did it.

So if any men are still reading this: Women are not noble. We are in PAIN, and we HATE THE WORLD, and you should BRING US CHOCOLATE and SCRUB THE BATHTUB so we can go soak in it, and you should just generally kiss our butts for a few days. You'll be safer that way.

Ex-Times Reporter Tells Observer He 'Couldn't Stop Laughing' About Correction of One Deception

5/21/03 11:29AM

Former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair said he "couldn't stop laughing" when the newspaper corrected his fraudulent description of an American POW's home in West Virginia, according to excerpts of an interview with the New York Observer.

Charming.
In one of his few interviews since resigning from the Times on May 1, Blair told the Observer that he "fooled some of the most brilliant people in journalism" with his reporting.

So much for the most brilliant people in journalism. I expect that once the most brilliant people in journalism get their Nigerian funds, they'll go for early retirement.

In a brazen act of deception, Blair wrote under a dateline from Palestine, W.Va., about the family of Pvt. Jessica Lynch, a POW rescued in Iraq. He described the family's home as overlooking "tobacco fields and cattle pastures." The porch overlooks no such thing and no member of the Lynch family remembers talking to Blair, the Times said in an extensive investigation into his work.

They made one fifty-cent phone call to the Lynch family, and wrote it off as a business expense.

The Times found fraud, plagiarism and inaccuracies in 36 of 73 articles examined between October and April.

NO information is better than bad information.

Newsweek has reported that Blair signed with literary agent David Vigliano to market his story for possible book and movie deals.

Any person who buys this book participates in Mr. Blair's deception and shares his moral guilt.

According to excerpts from the Observer, Blair said his deceptions stemmed from personal problems.

Wah! Wah! Wah! Yes, Mr. Swiss-cheese Brain, lying is a personal problem. Guess what, buddy? I got problems of my own. Personal problems are an excuse, but seldom a reason.

"I was either going to kill myself or I was going to kill the journalist persona," he said. "So Jayson Blair the human being could live, Jayson Blair the journalist had to die."

Bad choice, in my cold-hearted bitch opinion

© 2002 AT&T and The Associated Press. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be republished or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Bite me.

Hollywood Halfwits has two articles about anti-war commencements speakers getting booed. One was New York Times 'reporter' Chris Hedges at Rockford College (article here), and the other was Phil Donahure at North Carolina State (article here). The article included the usual dribble-drabble about being open to new ideas and the usual implication that anyone who disagrees with a liberal viewpoint is mean and stupid.

Liberals do not realize how many battles they have won, and that the current state of the world is the direct result of their own actions. They started out with a lot of good ideas, but didn't know when to quit. So racial equality turned into white-hating and black degradation; Women's lib has lowered the female to the violence of the male, and emasculated the male, instead of raising up male negotiation skills and female ability to grasp unadorned facts; an awareness and acceptance of other cultures has led to unmerited scorn of our own.

phooey.

Good Things

My caladiums are blooming! I didn't even know they had blooms. It's sort of like the peace lilly bloom, a stalk inside a hood. Smells good, too!

You look like you could use a joke

Q. Where do beginning vampires learn how to suck blood?

A. Law School!

Bad Science Joke

Q. How do you tell the sex of a chromosone?

A. Pull down its genes and look!

Ba-Da CHING!!

Other Blogs

Lt. Smash makes an excellent point in his article entitled Stupid and Desperate. I feel better having read it. It's good to get different perspective on things, and the Internet is a wonderful place to do that.

After you finish reading Lt. Smash, go get a cup of coffee and come back.

. . .

Ready? OK, go here and read Bill Whittle's article on Magic.

"Anyway, some time in the late 1960’s Sauron gets the Ring and along comes the Hippie movement. Their entire philosophy was summed up succinctly in a slogan from the times: if it feels good, do it.


This sounds simplistic and childlike. In fact, it is: but it is also extremely subtle and pervasive, and as a personal philosophy it has enormous seductive power. It frees you from the constraints of discipline, study, responsibility and ethics, not to mention relieving you of the burden of making choices based on evidence, reason, logic or fact. "




"People believe that adapting the Kyoto treaty will save the earth. If you only do one thing today that will raise your self-esteem and promote diversity, then saving the planet and all of its species cannot be oversold."

There's more, much more. Read it and think!

One More!

Lots of good stuff out there today! Read this article in the Mudville Gazette, and go do something right, even it seems tiny and unconsequential.

Good night and God bless.

Quote

It is written that trouble came to pass, but nowhere it is written that it came to stay.

Kayak

Brushed off the spiders, oiled her up, and we're off!! There were many big spiders, but none of them were black widows. Hoo-rah!


I only went out for about an hour. It was kind of windy, the tide was strong, and boy am I out of shape! But it was good, as it always is. Didn't see very many birds, just a few jumping mullets.

When I got back and washed everything down, the rudder cable came off. It's looking frayed. I suspect I should replace them very soon, but I do not know how, or where to get new cable. Hopefully the kayak store has it?? and can tell me what to do?? It appears as if you have to thread the cable through the inside somehow, and I am puzzled and uncertain of my skills.

Beast

The beast has arisen and claims he's dying - again. He claims the doctors give him two weeks. Over a year ago, he called and said the doctors gave him three months. Yeah. Whatever.

The disease is supposed to be cirrohsis of the liver. That, I can believe.

So here I am, the cold-hearted bitch who won't fulfill the wish of a quasi-dying man. What if he isn't dying? What if it's just one more lie, and a lie that puts the beast back into my life and the lives of my family?

And what if he is dying? Well, so what? After 23 years, what have we to do with each other? What especially, has he to do with anything remotely connected to me?

sigh. If I could do what he wanted, safely, I would. I cannot. I can't even trust him to be actually dying when he says he is. Even if I could, there would be other issues to deal with . . I don't know whether I would (a) have the nerve to and (b) be willing to inflict those troubles on others, innocent others. & the infliction could not be avoided.

So perhaps it's just as well that he's a lying, violent, crazed sack of s---, that way I can avoid those 'other' issues.

It is unbelievable, and appalling, that I am angry with someone for not having the decency to die a year ago, like he said he would.

Ahhhh - walk a mile in my shoes, baby. You'd feel the same.

Favorite Joke

Two atoms are walking down the street. The first atom says: "O no!! I lost an electron!"

Second atom: "Wow, that's terrible. Are you sure?"

First atom: "Yeah, I'm positive."

HAH HAH HAH!!!

I like corny jokes.

I do not think there is or will ever be a better analysis of the Democratic Texans than the one written by The Lemon.

If I ever manage to sleep tonight, the goal is to wake up early tomorrow and go kayaking. I bought a new life jacket today - a kayaking, women's jacket that won't squash my boobs even tinier than they already are - with POCKETS!!! Pockets are a beautiful thing. Designers who don't add pockets should be strung up, shot down, tossed around, stepped on, put in a burlap bag, thrown in a creek, withdrawn, and then hung up again, to dry. I feel strongly about this issue, and I DEMAND to know what my elected representatives are going to do about it!

I hope I don't chicken out. I haven't been since last fall, when I found a black widow had built a web on the seat. Boy, that could have been painful! But I figure if I take it down on the drive, hose it out, scrub it, drown it in bug spray, bang it a few times, pray mightily, and drive really really really fast to create a good strong wind and blow things away, I will be fine.

May 15 has come and gone. I am NOT on the layoff list, but alas, did not get a new gun or new bookshelves either. Der Kinder has 4 impacted wisdom teeth, and the cost of the teeth = S&W + bookshelves. But that's cool - he matters more than being (how old am I?!? Already??!!!) and still keeping my books on the floor, like a teenager. & I still have my flame thrower, even if the guys at the range do laugh at it. It fires actual rounds, accurately enough for the distance I'm likely to need it at for self-defense. They tell me it's too cheap to be a Saturday Night Special - the best my current little gun can ever aspire to is a Friday Afternoon Matinee. Ah well, at least it's a conversation piece!

Vegetable garden is doing fine!! Butterfly II not so fine, the anise and lavender are NOT sprouting. I don't believe lavender ever sprouts from seed. Those seed packets are just part of the left-wing conspiracy's attempt to wrench filthy lucre from the wallets of the Productive Class.

Acidman at Gut Rumbles came to visit! and left a post!! That was very sweet of him. I think he's just an old softy at heart, but I'm not gonna tell him that. You tell 'im - I don't have the nerve!

Huh. I had another thought, but I lost it. Must be just about time for sleep.

G'night!

I have lost my caterpillar!! Maybe he's been eaten by a lizard, I don't know, but he is gone!!! No pupa to see . . no caterpillar. I'll never know what he was.

Yesterday, a couple of bicyclists stopped in front of my house and smiled at the flowers. I'm proud of that.

The vegetable garden is coming along nicely. Seeds that have been planted are coming up. I am puzzled by the caterpillar on my onions. He is about 3/4" long, rather skinny, black with orange spots. He is not fuzzy and has no spines. I can't find a matching caterpillar on the Internet, and onions aren't supposed to really have much in the way of pests. There was a black swallowtail butterfly of some sort that came to rest on the garden dirt a few times, and seemed to excrete a white substance into the dirt, which also seems strange. Was it laying eggs, or was it butterfly poop? How could one little butterfly have that much poop, and yet, why would any butterfly lay eggs in dirt? Did it read the seed packages and know what I was planting? Am I just a helpless tool of the butterfly cabal?

Well, I'm trying to keep an eye on the little fellow to see what he turns into, if anything.

I'm getting pipevine and milkweed off ebay, and the hyssop seeds have sprouted and are growing, but they're taking their good old time about it. The anise and lavender seeds have still not sprouted. Lavender seeds never sprout. About half the tuberose bulbs seem to have sprouted.

Good Things

The muscovy duck came to visit me today. I feed him sour dough bread and vegetable crackers.

Truly Stupid

A 20-year old woman, on vacation on a cruise ship, plants terrorist-type notes in the ladies room so she can get out of the cruise early and go home to her boyfriend.

twenty. years. old.



At 20, she had no choice but to go with mommy and daddy on vacation?!? At twenty!!!!!!

Freaking moron. Now she will be away from her widdle boyfriend for 20-40 years. Think he'll wait for her?

I'd like to feel sorry for her, but I just can't. She's too stupid, and she cost me too much money. $336,000 out of the public coffers to pay for this TWENTY-YEAR OLD's brain-dead childishness. The article doesn't say where her boyfriend is located, but if he is in the US, she is beyond stupid and should simply be put out of her misery.

The AP article may be at this link , unless it doesn't stay put.

Just in case it doesn't, here is the full article (& now I know why people copy the way they do!):

Woman Pleads Innocent to Cruise Threats

By B.J. REYES

Associated Press Writer

HONOLULU (AP) -- A woman accused of planting threatening notes aboard a cruise ship to cut short a family vacation and return to her boyfriend pleaded innocent Monday to federal charges.

Kelley Marie Ferguson, 20, of Laguna Hills, Calif., did not speak in court except to softly answer "yes" when asked if she understood the charges against her and whether it was her intent to plead not guilty.

Ferguson was indicted under a provision of the USA Patriot Act that makes it illegal to convey false information about an attempt to kill passengers on a vehicle of mass transportation.

"Our approach is just as it would be with any defendant that committed an offense such as this, especially given the climate and the tenor of what's going on in the world these days," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Sorenson said.

Ferguson's public defender wasn't available after court. A telephone message left at her office wasn't immediately returned.

Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas was en route to Hawaii when it was diverted to waters off Oahu on April 23 following the discovery of two threatening notes in a ladies' bathroom.

The notes threatened to kill Americans if the cruise ship docked on U.S. soil. The cost of an exhaustive FBI investigation was estimated at $336,000.

Ferguson faces two counts, each with a maximum of 20 years in prison, although Sorenson said he expects a plea agreement to be reached.

More Personality Tests on the Web

What Is Your Animal Personality?
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Link found at Acidman, who in turn stole it from Jay Solo, who, I am pleased to see, also uses blogspot, despite all the nasty things other bloggers say about it.

You should be a Libra, Cosmopolitan, refined,
amiable, sociable, happy, generous, realistic,
charming, gracious, affectionate, balanced,
diplomatic, easy-going, elegant, charming,
flirtatious, committed, objective but can be
indecisive, emotionally complex, vague,
dependent, distant, argumentative, depressed,
exhausted, materialistic, superficial, self-
indulgent, easily-offended


~*What is your TRUE Zodica sign?*~
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Good things

Saw my first zebra longwing of the year!

Good Things

My Wilson's Yellow daylillies are starting to bloom. Beans, corn, marigolds, onions, and carrots are starting to come - even the leeks are poking little tiny green noses out of the ground.

In butterfly II, my 1st few hyssops are starting, and so is the purple allysum.

Looks like I will have to get pipevine and milkweed over the Internet.

Reaallly Cool Thing

A manatee came up the creek this evening. Just floating up as the tide was starting to ebb - coasting up his back, and poking his nose up and snorting every now and then.

Click here to see a picture of a manatee.

I'm jazzed.

Personality Tests on the Web

Some days I worry about myself. Mostly, though, I don't.

Which OS are You?

Mean lil fellow, arn't you?


What Monty Python Character are you?
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